[blog] JK's Backlog Battle

07/01/2023 - Whisper Books Completion.
Current Backlog: 540
Currently Playing: 15

A visual novel game that has two different stories currently and at least one on the way to be released.
Whisper Books has an interesting way of combining different cultures, like Aztecs, ancient Chinese and Vikings.

The stories were actually pretty interesting, but the way choosing the different routes and doing choices was very weird
and kinda made the choice unnecessary to even be there. If there were no choices, the game would have been basically the same.
The artworks are beautifully drawn and show great detail in cultural appropriate clothing as well as some changes to suit the story and make it their own.

The translation to English was a little lacking and sometimes used words that didn't really fit,
and the dialogue between characters felt a little awkward and out of place. Cannot say how the literature is for the original language,
but in English there could be some improvements. The voice acting was in Chinese and was actually pretty great, though I turned it off,
as it was a little distracting when the speaker was reading the texts fully. If it was just some small voice acting, maybe it would have been better.

All in all, Whisper Books is an interesting visual novel game, I do think it's a great game to be played,
but if you want good English translation, this game isn't for you. I would also recommend to wait for a sale
if you do decide to get this game.
- Marisa (JK)

07/01/2023 - Eternal Hope Completion.
Current Backlog: 539
Currently Playing: 15

When I opened Eternal Hope for the first time it was clear that this puzzle platformer game drew inspiration from indie classics like Inside and Limbo,
though Eternal Hope presents more of a colorful premise rather than a gloomier one that those before mentioned provided.
The little pop of color is most welcome in the background of the silhouettes of the characters and creatures,
making it a pretty game graphically.

You follow the story of Ti'bi, a boy who embarks on a journey to restore his beloved's soul and having hope that they will be reunited once more.
He gets granted a mask and with it, the ability to shift between dimensions, by the Keeper of Souls, this power will enable Ti’bi to travel,
solve puzzles and meet otherworldly beings that live among the shadows.

The gameplay is rather simple, but is very well thought out with the different abilities, making it interesting and fun to play through.
These abilities are unique and work really well throughout the game, complementing the already amazing story perfectly.
Sometimes the puzzles get a little frustrating, but dying isn't a problem as there is a checkpoint system.
In the end though, the puzzles were pretty simple and didn't take too much thought process to complete and get through.

I believe the game shines mostly from it's sound design, the sound effects and soundtrack being very well done
and it complimenting each part of the game really well. I felt completely immersed within the game because of this soundtrack,
and it was absolutely fantastic.

All in all, definitely a game that I would recommend to any puzzle platformer lovers and those who enjoy a tragic story.
It's a little on the shorter side so I don't think 10€ is a good price, so maybe waiting for a sale is the best option.
- Marisa (JK)

08/01/2023 - The Suicide of Rachel Foster Completion.
Current Backlog: 538
Currently Playing: 15

Coming back to the family hotel after years, a young woman named Nicole finds herself trapped with the ghosts from her past
and an old cellular telephone as the only way to unveil a terrible truth. The Suicide of Rachel Foster is an atmospheric walking simulator game
with great storytelling where it manages to treat extremely delicate issues with tact.

The storytelling had good pacing and moved forward steadily at the start, but near the end it got really rushed
and felt like they just wanted the game to be over with as fast as possible. The game was very straightforward with what it wanted you to do when playing,
and it didn't really reward a lot of exploration. There were a few bugs that forced me to reload a save and loose some progress in the game,
but other than that I didn't find any issues in the gameplay.

The soundtrack was good and the voice acting was pretty good as well.
The small sounds of the abandoned hotel also were really good and made it a little bit spooky to play through.
All these things really added to the immersion in my opinion and kept me engaged to the story the whole time.

Taking all of these into consideration, and the fact that the game was quite short to play through,
I can recommend this game, but definitely not at the full price. The full price is way too much for a game that is so short
and feels rushed towards the end. Otherwise a great game and something you should play.
- Marisa (JK)

08/01/2023 - The Suicide of Rachel Foster Completion.
Current Backlog: 538
Currently Playing: 15

Coming back to the family hotel after years, a young woman named Nicole finds herself trapped with the ghosts from her past
and an old cellular telephone as the only way to unveil a terrible truth. The Suicide of Rachel Foster is an atmospheric walking simulator game
with great storytelling where it manages to treat extremely delicate issues with tact.

The storytelling had good pacing and moved forward steadily at the start, but near the end it got really rushed
and felt like they just wanted the game to be over with as fast as possible. The game was very straightforward with what it wanted you to do when playing,
and it didn't really reward a lot of exploration. There were a few bugs that forced me to reload a save and loose some progress in the game,
but other than that I didn't find any issues in the gameplay.

The soundtrack was good and the voice acting was pretty good as well.
The small sounds of the abandoned hotel also were really good and made it a little bit spooky to play through.
All these things really added to the immersion in my opinion and kept me engaged to the story the whole time.

Taking all of these into consideration, and the fact that the game was quite short to play through,
I can recommend this game, but definitely not at the full price. The full price is way too much for a game that is so short
and feels rushed towards the end. Otherwise a great game and something you should play.
- Marisa (JK)

Yet another game I mean to get around to. I think I already have it in my collection, but thank you for your insight regarding pricing (in case I don't have it yet)!

Yet another game I mean to get around to. I think I already have it in my collection, but thank you for your insight regarding pricing (in case I don't have it yet)!

no problem!

08/01/2023 - OPUS: The Day We Found Earth Completion.
Current Backlog: 536
Currently Playing: 15

"A robot without a goal is nothing more than a calculator.
So, listen up... Your goal, is to find Earth. Do we have a deal?"
- Dr. Lisa

In a never ending search for long lost Earth, the birth place of humanity, Dr. Lisa creates a robot named Emeth to help on this search.
Emeth, a childlike robot with one quest - find earth, suddenly wakes alone on the ship, OPUS, where the power has dwindled
and systems are not all fully active. Where is Dr. Lisa? Emeth still continues his quest to find Earth.

OPUS: The Day We Found Earth is a great PC-port of the originally released mobile game where you scan planets to find Earth
and unravel the story of why Emeth is alone. The game has a captivating stellar exploration mechanic,
with beautiful view of space and simple graphics otherwise, but still very fitting to the overall feel of the game.

I highly recommend OPUS: The Day We Found Earth for anyone who loves stargazing, space, exploration,
and solving a mystery, while enjoying a strong immersive story.
- Marisa (JK)

All OPUS games are amazing! Really excited for the newly announced one!

All OPUS games are amazing! Really excited for the newly announced one!

i honestly cant wait to play the other ones too! The first one was such a great game!

i honestly cant wait to play the other ones too! The first one was such a great game!

Yeah, there is also a free prologue for one of the opus games, that is like a short visual novel. If you did not play it, I strongly recommend. It is new content.

11/01/2023 - Don't Starve Together Completion.
Current Backlog: 534
Currently Playing: 15

I played Don't Starve Together with some friends and I believe we've done most of the stuff we can.
I honestly don't care much for survival games like this, but I had fun with friends and it's definitely a fun game to play with your friends!
I do recommend the game, however, I might not come back to this anymore.
I also want to point out that I definitely didn't 100% this one and it might stay as one of the few that I won't either.
- Marisa (JK)

Yeah, there is also a free prologue for one of the opus games, that is like a short visual novel. If you did not play it, I strongly recommend. It is new content.

thank you for pointing that out! Appreciated :D

12/01/2023 - Minecraft Completion.
Current Backlog: 534
Currently Playing: 9

Minecraft has to be one of the more amazing survival crafters that I have ever played.
It's a really fun game even on your own, but even more fun with friends.
There is lots to do and many great things to build.

There is lots of different ways to play the game and hours upon hours of fun game time can be sunk into this game.
Definitely a recommendation from me for now and many years to come.
- Marisa (JK)

15/01/2023 - The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day Completion.
Current Backlog: 533
Currently Playing: 9

A game where humans have long gone extinct and robots have made their own civilization. But have they really gone extinct?

In The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day, you play as RT-217NP, RT for short, who is a robot without clear purpose in life for themselves.
They are a rebel, avoiding system updates from the robot government and trying to develop their own ways.
It's an interesting sci-fi dystopian adventure game where the story leads RT to be forced to participate in a rebel organization,
who wish to protect the humans, if there are any left.

The game is more of a point and click game where you interact with things and read notes.
The way you move forward in this game seems to be really slow and even when the story gives you a sense or urgency,
it feels like the main character is moving very slowly, even when pressing the run button.

The voice acting was mediocre, but I do appreciate that all of the actors tried to do a good robot voice.
My favorite voice was probably for one of the Medic robot characters.
The dialogue feels often limiting and you don't get to explore all choices in the dialogue trees.
The game heavily relies on building a foundation for the next game, and doesn't really get that interesting during this one, sadly,
but besides that, it still made me want to play the next game as well, which is a good thing.

With all that, I do think it's an entertaining intro to a larger story, but on it's own I don't think it really holds up.
So if you do decide to get the game, try getting this one and the Light At The End as well,
and maybe getting them at a combined discounted prize. I enjoyed it, but it can get boring,
however, I still think it's worth a recommendation.
- Marisa (JK)

16/01/2023 - Shape of The World Completion.
Current Backlog: 532
Currently Playing: 9

Shape of The World is a casual exploration game where the world reacts to your movement.
It's surreal and psychedelically colorful ecosystem of different kinds of flora and creatures
where you journey through portals in the world and collect seeds that you can use to plant more trees.

I had a lot of troubles with the changing color schemes as most of them hurt my eyes a lot and it made my head hurt.
I took some breaks between my playing and then continued it. I did still manage to 100% the game,
which requires you to play the game 3 times. It's a good, solid and beautiful looking game,
but if you are sensitive to certain color schemes then you might get headaches.

I really enjoyed the soundtrack of the game and it was just absolutely beautiful!
It reacted to what I did and when you moved on the "stairways" the music picked up
and the speed you moved picked up as well. It was glorious.

Definitely a recommendation from me for this game,
but I do recommend checking first if any of the color schemes in the game can make your head hurt too much.
Amazing and casual game that was a fun journey to play through.
- Marisa (JK)

23/01/2023 - Tell a Demon Completion.
Current Backlog: 535
Currently Playing: 9

"His face was like an abandoned house, it's windows gaping dark,
the lonely emptiness of it a thing to turn away from, to flee ━ for ghosts must live there, or demons,
or broken stairways that could crack at any moment beneath one's feet, sending one falling,
falling into the abyss of what was once someone's well-loved cellar, now home to a scattering of vermin
and of lost and forgotten things."

Have you ever wanted to outsmart a demon? In Tell a Demon you can do that and much more.
It's a visual novel game set in a 1920s styled fantasy world where the world was once ruled by an immortal Empress.
Then it turned out that the Empress was not so immortal after all. her own courtiers had betrayed her,
but now it was a hundred years after all of that took place.

They always said the Empress casts a long Shadow, and now the Shadow of a dark empire hangs over your head.
Face that lingering darkness from the perspective of three characters, Julius, Kalevel and Tell,
whose stories are intertwining at each corner, making you choose what their fate brings them.

Tell a Demon is definitely one of the more impressive visual novel games I've played.
It's quite beautiful with it's different than your average VN artwork and it's intriguing story, world-building and characters.
All of this is highly complimented by the game's soundtrack that is very fitting to each scene and immerses you into the story fully.

If you are into fantasy, demons and different looking artwork,
this game is definitely a great choice for you.
I can highly recommend it for anyone.
- Marisa (JK)

04/02/2023 - Batman: The Telltale Series Completion.
Current Backlog: 534
Currently Playing: 9

We all know the story of Batman, but Telltale made it their own with this fantastic story rich adventure game.
As any telltale game, the game unfolds in an episodic fashion, where each of the five episodes have 6 chapters.
The game is based on Bob Kane and Bill Finger's Batman character,
though not tied to any previous adaptation of the work in film or other media.

The gameplay here is pretty much what you would expect from Telltale with a little bit more of an emphasis on action.
There is also a huge emphasis on Batman's detective side, which really makes this game shine.
You can change how Batman in your game acts during certain scenes and some choices have different outcomes.
There is also great character building with known characters from Gotham.

Games like this make me miss Telltale. Even if the gameplay is pretty average,
the story is something that will get you hooked in no time! Absolutely amazing game,
and I definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of batman or telltale games.
- Marisa (JK)

06/02/2023 - Batman: The Enemy Within Completion.
Current Backlog: 533
Currently Playing: 9

Such a grand ending to the Batman Telltale series! In this season,
you get to face new precarious situations with both Bruce Wayne and Batman.
There are amazing cast of villains in this season, like Bane, Dr. Freeze, Harley Quinn,
The Riddler and, of course, The Joker, whose birth you get to influence on with your choices very closely.

With any telltale game, the gameplay is always the same, nothing grandeur, but not bad either.
It's memorable and safe, easy to understand. What gets you going though,
is the story and the intricate choices you get to make as Bruce Wayne and Batman.
It really felt like I had the choice to decide on what happens, and I really loved every second of it.

Sadly I did have some troubles with ctds and having to restart chapters because of missclicks
and saves overwriting so I couldnt go back to fix it. Despite those little problems, I was able to enjoy this experience to the fullest!

Now if you don't mind, I gotta go cry in the corner for the sweet lost friendship between joker and brucie.
ah yes, bffs forever, even after all that, I say!

Anyways, It's definitely a game worth playing and fun to start from the first game.
Fully recommended!
- Marisa (JK)

06/02/2023 - Batman: The Enemy Within Completion.
Current Backlog: 533
Currently Playing: 9

Such a grand ending to the Batman Telltale series! In this season,
you get to face new precarious situations with both Bruce Wayne and Batman.
There are amazing cast of villains in this season, like Bane, Dr. Freeze, Harley Quinn,
The Riddler and, of course, The Joker, whose birth you get to influence on with your choices very closely.

With any telltale game, the gameplay is always the same, nothing grandeur, but not bad either.
It's memorable and safe, easy to understand. What gets you going though,
is the story and the intricate choices you get to make as Bruce Wayne and Batman.
It really felt like I had the choice to decide on what happens, and I really loved every second of it.

Sadly I did have some troubles with ctds and having to restart chapters because of missclicks
and saves overwriting so I couldnt go back to fix it. Despite those little problems, I was able to enjoy this experience to the fullest!

Now if you don't mind, I gotta go cry in the corner for the sweet lost friendship between joker and brucie.
ah yes, bffs forever, even after all that, I say!

Anyways, It's definitely a game worth playing and fun to start from the first game.
Fully recommended!
- Marisa (JK)

I really enjoyed Batman: The Enemy Within. I think this series was one that Telltale did really well. A really solid mixture of political and financial machinations with Bruce and of course detective, action-packed work of Batman. Of course, I'm also reminiscing the OG Batman Telltale game, but I think the whole thing was done really well.

I really enjoyed Batman: The Enemy Within. I think this series was one that Telltale did really well. A really solid mixture of political and financial machinations with Bruce and of course detective, action-packed work of Batman. Of course, I'm also reminiscing the OG Batman Telltale game, but I think the whole thing was done really well.

I played them both back to back, so I really felt like the story picked up a lot in the second game, but I enjoyed both very much!

06/02/2023 - Batman: The Enemy Within Completion.
Current Backlog: 533
Currently Playing: 9

Such a grand ending to the Batman Telltale series! In this season,
you get to face new precarious situations with both Bruce Wayne and Batman.
There are amazing cast of villains in this season, like Bane, Dr. Freeze, Harley Quinn,
The Riddler and, of course, The Joker, whose birth you get to influence on with your choices very closely.

With any telltale game, the gameplay is always the same, nothing grandeur, but not bad either.
It's memorable and safe, easy to understand. What gets you going though,
is the story and the intricate choices you get to make as Bruce Wayne and Batman.
It really felt like I had the choice to decide on what happens, and I really loved every second of it.

Sadly I did have some troubles with ctds and having to restart chapters because of missclicks
and saves overwriting so I couldnt go back to fix it. Despite those little problems, I was able to enjoy this experience to the fullest!

Now if you don't mind, I gotta go cry in the corner for the sweet lost friendship between joker and brucie.
ah yes, bffs forever, even after all that, I say!

Anyways, It's definitely a game worth playing and fun to start from the first game.
Fully recommended!
- Marisa (JK)

I love how they portrayed Joker in that game, makes me feel sympathetic. I will definitely choose the Joker again over Harley Quinn.

I love how they portrayed Joker in that game, makes me feel sympathetic. I will definitely choose the Joker again over Harley Quinn.

absolutely! it was really well done. made me a little sad as well, for how Bruce was so dissapointed that their friendship didn't work out.

06/02/2023 - Little Misfortune Completion.
Current Backlog: 531
Currently Playing: 10

The Game stars Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, an imaginative 8-year-old,
who seeks the prize of Eternal Happiness, as a gift to her Mommy. Led by her new friend, Mr. Voice, they venture into the woods,
where mysteries are unraveled and a little bit of bad luck unfolds. Little Misfortune is an interactive story,
focused on exploration and characters, both sweet and dark, where your choices have consequences.

This game is a delight, but also very sad. If you like a story that takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, you will enjoy this one.
It's filled with dark humour and topics, but also has some little silly things, such as the glitter throwing and Misfortune's fart jokes.
It has an unique artstyle and it's very pretty to look at.

Despite the fact that I had already watched a full playthrough of this game several times,
it gripped me from my heartstrings and got me to shed a few tears.
It's a wonderful game worth playing for yourself, and I definitely recommend it.
- Marisa (JK)

14/02/2023 - Opportunity: A Sugar Baby Story Completion.
Current Backlog: 543
Currently Playing: 11

In Opportunity: A Sugar Baby Story you read the story of Jacqueline (or Jackie to her friends),
who is a single mother of two young children in need of some relieve of her two student loans.
It's not cheap to raise two young children alone, so after meeting with an old hot friend from collage,
she gets to try out her chance at being a sugar baby!

The game is a lighthearted linear slice-of-life erotic kinetic novel exploring what it means to rebuild
and reinvent yourself against a backdrop of late-stage capitalism. The game contains lots of fairly fun themes; but nothing too harshly taboo.
Compared to many other adult games it could be considered quite tame, though it definitely strays away from the more vanilla aspects at times.
I found myself enjoying this somewhat-grounded-in-reality visual novel game quite a lot.

There is a lot of heart put into the content in the game; from the artwork to the story and to the characters.
The artwork is visually pleasing and cartoony, but not too anime-esque, which was a really good choice in my opinion.
The story is really great and actually had me waiting for the full release for many months excitedly!
The characters are really well thought out and they each have their distinctive personalities and kinks that make them tick.

Only negative things I could think up of this game were the fact that it is literally just a novel, a linear story,
no choices or player input actually needed. Sure you do make some "choices" on what to do in what order,
but there is no real choice in anything that happens in the story. The other thing was, that after waiting for months for the full release of this game,
I came to it and was shocked to see that the artstyle of the spicy scenes was more sketchy
and not as cartoony as the steam page and the first 4 chapters indicate. I was quite saddened by it,
but it was still very much enjoyable and I wasn't put off by it too much.

If you enjoy Adult Visual Novels that give you more than just your average sexy times
and want to read about actually interesting and divergent cast of characters,
then this game is definitely right up your alley!
Awesome game for what it is offered as.
- Marisa (JK)

02/03/2023 - 60 Seconds! Reatomized Completion.
Current Backlog: 569
Currently Playing: 10

Welcome to this remastered edition of the classic atomic adventure - 60 Seconds! Reatomized,
featuring 4K support, refreshed 2D graphics and hand-drawn 3D textures, new interactive menu,
improved UI system, a technical refresh, and of course... new content!

I personally haven't played the old version, but I absolutely loved the remastered version!
The game has quite simple gameplay, you have 60 seconds to gather resources
and your family to your bunker before the bombs hit! After you get to the bunker safely,
you have to survive with what you gathered by interacting with events and scavenging the post-apocalyptic world outside!
From mutation to cannibalism to aliens there is probably everything in this game anyone could have ever thought of
and every single playthrough plays differently with more twists than you can imagine!

This game has a lot of replayability definitely and there is a lot of achievements to hunt for,
for those of us of the achievement hunter kind. For just 10€, it's definitely a worthy game to get,
with lots of content and fun all around!
- Marisa (JK)

12/03/2023 - Hogwarts Legacy Completion.
Current Backlog: 576
Currently Playing: 9

Do you want to experience the wizarding world in the 1800s?
In Hogwarts Legacy you get to be a student in Hogwarts who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart.
You get to embark on an epic journey through familiar and new locations as you explore and discover magical beasts,
customize your character and craft potions, master spell casting, upgrade talents and become the witch or wizard you want to be.

Hogwarts Legacy is a potterhead's wet dream manifested into a wonderful experience of a game,
which offers a detailed and impressive recreation of Hogwarts and it's neighboring regions,
which are packed to the brim with things to discover, things to collect and lore to seek and read.

Some negative about the world building and everything in it, it's a collector's dream.
That's not for everyone for sure, there is a lot of repetition and the map is quite big with not as much variety as there should be.
I enjoyed the collecting myself, as I really like collecting things, but it's definitely something that you need to be aware of.

There is a great amount of customizing when creating your own witch or wizard,
with good range of skin colors and cosmetics and even a way to change the pitch of the voice options.
Changing the pitch does make the voice sound a little bit robotic in my opinion, but it isn't too bad, and is a nice addition.
You also have your own "homebase" that you can decorate and customize with a lot of options.

The combat is nice and smooth, but can be easily exploitable, especially after you receive the unforgivable curses.
There is a way to heal spam and the AI of the enemies is not that smart which makes the combat sometimes really, really easy.
Sadly the named foes and quest bosses lack in uniqueness with no real variety in their combat abilities or behavior either.

The story progression feels surprisingly smooth and portrays the growth of the main character very well,
where you get to hone your talents and improve. The progress of time is very well portrayed with the changing seasons and the day and night cycle.
The main story itself is quite interesting, but has an underwhelming finale that leaves you wondering how your choices affected the other characters around you.

There is also some inconsistencies that are minor annoyances, like if you use an unforgivable curse in public, no one bats an eye.
Your friends do mention that they do not like you using them if you are fighting with them, but otherwise there is no real repercussions for them,
which makes them less unforgivable.

There is a great variety of side characters in the game that are very well built and are quite likable and unique from each other.
The writing of the friendship quests is interesting and shows the growth of the main character's friends
as well as how it affects the main character themselves.

For me, the game took some over 90 hours to complete to 100% on normal difficulty, with all collections filled and challenges completed,
as well as the few extra achievements that are given when you reach the map chamber with a character from each of the houses.
I also spent a lot of extra time wandering around and taking screenshots, which boosted my hours a little bit.
There is really no replay value to the game, since there is no different endings or choices to make.
All of the collectibles can be acquired on one playthrough and the other 3 playthroughs only take about 2 hours each to reach to the map chamber.

Is this game worth it then? Yes, absolutely.
It's a fantastic game, filled with content and is definitely the best game made of the franchise up to date, in my opinion.
There is certain political issues regarding the game, but you can enjoy the game and still not support those ideals.

as an ending note, I wan't to add that be you a man, a woman or anything in-between or outside of, you are loved.
You are appreciated by me and many others and I hope that you get to live your life the way you want to live it.
- Marisa (JK)